Edmonton! … And Wine!

I woke up at 5am, but I had a really good reason for it. It was Hillary’s birthday, which meant party in Edmonton!!

The party itself was fantastic. There were fancy cheeses and fancy wines and great people who were not phased by my strange conversation material. Like cold sores and how to avoid them and how World of Warcraft makes real life a small world (why is everyone I know on the Deathwing realm??).

After twenty-two hours of being awake, it was thankfully time for bed. Full of wine and suffering from a distinct lack of sleep, it wasn’t hard to drift off. (By the way, Hillary’s home-made wine is phenomenal).

Saturday was filled with rowing and shopping. And though I don’t row anymore, I still have this adoration of rowing shells (boats) and there was no way I’d visit Edmonton without stopping by to cuddle with my old boat, Maat…

She is a beautiful 1998 Hudson, formerly used & slightly abused by the national team, I bought her in 2005 and loved every minute of rowing with her. She is the best boat I’ve ever used. But when it came time for me to leave rowing for good, I didn’t think it was right to keep her hostage in my garage where she wouldn’t get to be rowed and loved.

So I tearfully (and I mean tearfully) sold her. It was for the best. But… I still like to hug her when I see her and tell her what a good boat she is.

The most hilarious part to me though are the oars…

When I first got Maat, I bought a sweet pair of yellow-handled Croakers to go with her. I didn’t want to paint the blades in club colours, so to keep them from wandering off while away at regattas, I wrote my name on painter’s tape and stuck it to the shafts. Now that’s security! It’s not like anyone could just walk up and take them off or anything!

It seems that after all these years the current owner has been too lazy to remove my name from the oars. Who knew, right? At least it’s my little left-over attachment to rowing.

Though, the last time I checked, there’s a whole thwack of green painter’s tape around the Calgary Rowing Club’s bays that has my handwriting on it.

Anyway, it was a fantastic weekend and a much appreciated break from Calgary. It’s hard for someone as… wanderlusty?… as me to stay put for so long. I mean, it was only Edmonton, but it wasn’t Calgary, either.

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About Indiana Jill

Jillian is an archaeologist and photographic artist living and working in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When she's not at home making art, she's off on adventures, chasing new experiences & stories.
You can follow along here and on her favourite social media platform, Instagram. She is obsessed with it. You can follow her on @logeephoto and @indianajill.ca.